This invention relates to electrophotographic apparatus and, more particularly, it relates to the ordering of signatures in the formation of booklets from individual documents.
As is well known, a signature is a sheet containing a multiple of numbered pages which when folded and nested one inside of the other becomes one unit of a pamphlet or book. Given a series of original documents which are to read in order from page 1 through page 8, for example, it is logical to form a booklet which maintains the identical order. If the booklet is formed from sheets of paper (called signatures) carrying four images of the original documents in original sequence, the booklet made up of the folded sheets will contain images of the original which are not in sequential order. Thus, the correct placement of images on each signature is essential to providing a booklet in logical sequence in the finished product.
In general, the systematic ordering of document is well known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,130 shows a method for the production of a bundle of duplicate copies of pages of the same order and arrangement as a book original regardless of whether the book original is bound on the left side or on the right side or whether the first and last page is to be copied have even or odd numbers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,687 discloses a positioning surface having at least two distinct areas upon each which an original can be laid for copying and each area is bordered by a lateral arrest so plural originals laid in the areas and against the arrest will be fed together to exact positions on the exposure plate for copying on one sheet of receiving material in one copying run of the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,881 discloses that a certain page order sequence of originals can be devised to simplify the collating of sheets and for simplifying the cutting into two stacks of standard size sheets a stack of printed sheets.
One of the most difficult challenges, however, constraining on line introduction of signature production and finishing is the page ordering of the input documents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,765 discloses the preparation of booklets by permitting simplified operator manipulations of a copier which forms adjacent images from sequential original sheets. An automatic document feed presents successive original documents from the input stack to the reproduction position, the original documents are initially fed to the copier in a first sequence but are not all imaged. The originals are then stacked and are again presented to the reproduction position, some of the previous unimaged originals forming images on different portions of the same copy sheets. It is also known as described in the operator's instruction for the Xerox 7000 machine signature maker to use a calibrated table and to follow the step by step instructions for the placement of originals on a platen. There is also disclosed in the Xerox 1090 machine operator manual a step-by-step procedure to place documents on the platen with reference to a numbering table. A difficulty with the prior art systems is that they are often relatively complex and not easily adapted to the casual operator. It would be desirable therefore to provide a new and improved page ordering technique for input documents in the production of signatures to form booklets. It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple method combined with interactive graphics to prompt and guide the operator in proper page ordering of input documents for signature production.
Further advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features characterizing the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.